Leavenworth man receives life prison sentence

A third conviction on drug trafficking charges is sending a Leavenworth man to federal prison for life.

Theogen Edward Garner, 42, was sentenced last Friday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia. After a two-day trial in February, a jury found Garner guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public university.

"Mr. Garner was still on supervised release from his last drug conviction when he was arrested in July 2005 on the campus of the University of Kansas with more than 90 grams of crack cocaine," Melgren said.

Evidence presented at trial showed a KU public safety officer stopped Garner's pickup at 1:12 a.m. July 21, 2005, on the campus. Officers found a white bag in the truck that contained drugs. Lab tests determined that there were 82.31 grams of crack cocaine in the truck and 13.35 grams of crack cocaine in Garner's pocket.

Garner admitted to officers after his arrest that he had purchased 3.75 ounces of crack cocaine earlier that evening in Lawrence, which he said he intended to sell to others because he did not use crack cocaine.

That quantity of crack could have been sold in approximately 190 dosage units. With a half-gram selling for $50, that would result in a profit of approximately $7,900.

He also admitted purchasing an additional eight ounces of crack cocaine in the three months he had been out of prison, which would have enabled him to sell approximately 462 dosage units for an additional profit of $17,750.

Evidence presented at trial also established that his parole in Kansas was revoked four times after 2000 and before this conviction.